Committee on Undergraduate Education

The General University Requirements (GURs) embody Western's belief that liberal education - education in breadth - is as important for an informed and effective participation in contemporary life as specialized education. Western believes that liberal education enables people to lead fuller and more interesting lives, to perceive and to understand more of the world around and within themselves, and to participate more intelligently, sensitively and deliberately in shaping that world. This belief reflects a long tradition in higher education. In this tradition the bachelor's degree includes specialized study, the major, together with study over a range of human inquiry, expression and accomplishment. Broadly, the liberal education component of a bachelor's degree deals with issues of truth and falsity, with expressions of what is possible for humans to do and be, with things that bear on choices that we make about what in life we consider important. This broader study helps people gain perspective on who they are and what they do in the world.